Dubbing Russia’s military campaign in Syria a “recipe for disaster”, President Barack Obama has warned Moscow that it will get sucked into a “quagmire” if it goes all out to prop up the Bashar al-Assad regime by targeting not just ISIS but all anti-Assad rebel groups.
Stating that Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn’t distinguish between ISIS and a moderate Sunni opposition that wants Assad to go, Obama told a White House news conference: “From their (Russia’s) perspective, they’re all terrorists. And that’s a recipe for disaster.”
“An attempt by Russia and Iran to prop up Assad and try to pacify the population is just going to get them stuck in a quagmire and it won’t
work,” said Obama, who had a meeting with Putin in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session earlier this week.
Obama said he was very clear during his discussions with Putin that the only way-out in Syria would be to pursue a political transition with Assad bowing out, adding: “This is not a judgment I’m making; it is a judgment that the overwhelming majority of Syrians make.”
Obama said he would be prepared to work with Putin if he was willing to broker with his partners, Assad and Iran, for such a political transition as a military solution alone would not work.
From a practical perspective, Obama said Syria’s moderate opposition is needed for the political transition, but the Russian policy is “driving those folks underground or creating a situation in which they are de-capacitated”. Such an approach will end up strengthening ISIS, which is not good for anybody, he cautioned.
But the US will continue to support the opposition groups since they are the ones who can help pick up the pieces once the Assad regime falls and stitch together a cohesive nation, Obama said even while admitting that America’s train-and-equip programme for the anti-Assad groups has not been much of a success thus far.